- Ferenc Dávid
Ferenc Dávid (occasionally rendered as "Francis David"; c. 1510 –
November 15 ,1579 ) was aTransylvania n Nontrinitarian and Unitarian preacher, the founder of theUnitarian Church of Transylvania .Born in Kolozsvár (present-day
Cluj-Napoca ) to a Hungarian family, he studied inWittenberg andFrankfurt . Elected Calvinist bishop of the Hungarian churches in Transylvania, he was appointed court preacher to John Sigismund, Prince of Transylvania. Dávid's discussion of theTrinity began in 1565, with doubts of the personality of theHoly Ghost , because he could find no scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.His antagonist in public disputations was the Calvinist leader,
Péter Juhász ("Melius"); his supporter wasGiorgio Blandrata . John Sigismund, adopting his court-preacher's views, issued (1568) an edict of religious liberty at the Torda Diet, which allowed Dávid (retaining his existing title) to transfer his episcopate from the Calvinists to the Nontrinitarians, Kolozsvár being evacuated by all but his followers.In 1571, John Sigismund was succeeded by Stephen Báthory, a Roman Catholic, and the policy shifted toward persecution of the new religious institutions. When, under the influence of
Johannes Sommer , rector of the Kolozsvár gymnasium, Dávid denied the necessity of invokingJesus Christ in prayer (about 1572), the attempted mediation ofFaustus Socinus , upon Blandrata's request, was unsuccessful. Tried as an innovator, Dávid died in prison at Deva in 1579. The ruins of the prison site in the city now hold a memorial for Dávid.Dávid is best known among modern-day Unitarian Universalists for his often quoted statement, "We need not think alike to love alike"Fact|date=August 2007.
External links
* [http://www.unitarius.hu/english/dates.html Major dates from the History of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church]
* [http://w3.enternet.hu/sandor64/cffr/enyedi/enyedi-eng.htm Principles for Survival of Unitarianism in György Enyedi’s Sermons.]
* [http://www.uua.org/info/origins.html Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith by Mark W. Harris]
* [http://www.americanunitarian.org/fisherhistory.htm A Brief History of Unitarian Christianity]
* [http://www.uucava.org/sermons/trans_journ_mcgee_072504.htm "The Transylvania Journey" by Rev. Michael McGee (25 July 2004)]
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